The Abbeville press and banner. [volume] (Abbeville, S.C.) 1869-1924, 1887-07-20
4 TERRIBLE CALAMITY:
Forty Houses and Two Hotels
Sink Into a Swiss Lake.
A Strange Disaster in Which Many
Lives Were Lost.

The beautiful town of Zug, nestled at the
foot of the towering Zugerberg, on the shores
of Lake Zugersee, in Switzerland, was visited
by terrible calamity the other night, result
ing in the loss of more than one hundred
lives. Without warning and almost
simultaneously several large quays recent
ly built into the lake, and upon which had
been erected the Hotel Zurich, handsome
four-story structure, and an inn and some
forty dwellings, silently sank with great
rapidity into the water. Not a vestige
was left of the great structures except
such furniture and framework as foated
from the general wreck. The horror of the
scene was greatly heightened by the oppres-
sive silence when the waters closed over all,
The cries of the few victims who were awake
were hushed in q moment, and those who
witnessed the awful sight were too dazed by
the strange phenomenon to utter sound.
The Hotel Zurich was full of visitors and
the inn was crowded also, and many entire
families were in the private houses. 1t was
dark when the accident occurred and many
undoubtedly were ingulfed while they slept.
Among those known to have been lost is M.
Collin, President OF the Canton of Zug.
People came focking in from neighboring
cities to learn the fate Of relatives and friends,
but oil stood helpless on the shore wiring
ing their hands, A few bodies came to the
surface, but the majority were held down
by being pinned in the wreck. Men from
the silk and cotton mills and from the tan
neries offered their services, and active steps
were taken to recover the bodies. Fully half
the new quays have vanished, and it is not
probable that they can ever be rebuilt, as there
is no certainty that the foundations will be
secure enough. People moved precipitately
from the houses on the other quays and sought
homes farther back from the lake. Great
terror seized the inhabitants because Of the
mysterious accident. Some ascribe it to
earthquake causes, while others believe it is
but kind of a landslide on the mountain
side which was caused by the action of the
lake.
One of the most striking incidents of the
terrible disaster was the discovery at day
light of cradle floating on the lake several
hundred feet from the shore. Several boat
surprise on rowing alongside to find babe
sleeping peacefully. Whether the cradle
was pushed from a window in one
of the doomed houses or was accidentally
released from the wreckage will never be
known. The little child was uninjured. The
scene on shore among the matrons who had
gathered there to join in the general lementa-
tlon was pathetic, each woman In turn
gazing wistfully into the little face in the eff
fort to identify it. The people of the whole
town were on the lake shore all day, and
work in the factories and homes was neg
lected.
The town of Zug has population of 277.
There is gymnasium and public library, and
the inhabitants are engaged in fishing, cattle
raising, in tanning and in silk and cotton
spinning The lake on which it is situated is
nine miles long and two to three miles broad.
The Zugerberg towers from the east shore of
the lake to height of 3,251 feet.
The Canton or State in which it is situated
is Zug. 1t is the smallest State of the Swiss
Confederation, AMI is surrounded by the
cantons of Schurtz,. Unterwalden, Lu-
zerne, Aargau and Zurich. It has
population of 22,775, and an area
of ninety-two square miles. The town of Zug
is fifty-two miles northeast'o Berne, and the
lake is ,36l feet above the level Of the sea.
The town is about seventy-five miles south of
the southern boundary line of Germany.